The Baltimore Ravens decided to play hard ball by adding a math genius to their front office. Sandy Weil is the new director of football analytics for the Ravens.

Weil, a Yale graduate, majored in mathematics and received a master’s in computational finance from Carnegie Mellon.

Using analysts is relatively new in the football world, but baseball teams have been using them for quite some time, basketball teams followed suit and now football teams are getting in on the action.

Bestselling book/movie “Moneyball” is the true story of how the Oakland A’s used an analyst to crunch numbers and find inconsistencies within their organization.

“They found a market inefficiency and that exploited it,” Weil said. “That’s what ‘Moneyball’ was about and there are going to be places that you can look at in football and find new stuff. And the question is if you can exploit inefficiencies on that front to create value. I hope so.”

Weil will work with the personnel department and coaching staff to look at certain in-game situations and data mining for the NFL draft and more.

“We’re always looking for confirmation on things we think we know and insights that could provide an edge for us in personnel and coaching,” General Manager Ozzie Newsome said. “This is where Sandy will help us.”

The Ravens already have a long list of projects for Weil, he is sure to stay busy all year. It is Weil’s first job in the NFL and he has much to learn about how the coaching staff and personnel department operate.

I think he is a great addition to the Ravens front office and since having analysts is still new to football, I am excited that the Ravens stayed ahead of the curve and made it happen. Hopefully this will give them an advantage this season.

Good luck Weil! Welcome to Ravens Nation!